Pasta Salad

I’ve tried various versions of pasta salads over the years, but I don’t think any one has ever gone down as well as this. My ds had it for lunch two days in a row and ate more than I did!

Ingredients

• 500g dried pasta shapes (I used fusilli, the twisty one)
• about 1 large tbsp mayonnaise
• about 5 – 8 large tbsp natural jogurt (the creamier the better)
• about 1 tbsp apple balsamic vinegar (use whatever vinegar you like)
• about 2 tbsp rape seed oil (use any veg. oil except olive, which I think would give it a wierd flavour)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 small can sweetcorn, drained
• same amount ie small can of frozen peas, blanched
• some chopped cucumber

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the pack, then rinse in cold water and drain well.
2. In the mean time, mix up the dressing, adding a few tablespoons of cold water at the end. It should be fairly runny. Taste and add salt/pepper/vinegar etc as necessary
3. Mix into the pasta with the sweetcorn, peas and cucmber.
4. If you are making this a while before you need it, you may need to add a bit more jogurt and water before serving as the pasta tends to soak up the dressing and get a bit sticking.
5. Voila!

 

Really Fast Pasta or Gnocchi “Sauce”

This is for those nights when my son is so tired I know he isn’t going to make it until I’ve cooked dinner for all of us, so I have to give him something beforehand. It’s very, very quick, super easy and actually very tasty (I end up picking at it quite a bit!).

Ingredients

• any filled fresh pasta eg tortellini / or / fresh gnocchi
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp mixed herbs

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions (I usually just boil the kettle and let the pasta sit in the hot water while I’m preparing the sauce). If using gnocchi, I would really recommend frying it rather than boiling it – it gets a nice crispy outside and doesn’t go so mushy (fry it in a little of the butter).
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the herbs.
3. Mix in the cream cheese.
4. Throw in the pasta / gnocchi and stir until they are well covered with the sauce.
5. That’s it!

Believe it or not, it’s very tasty (sort of reminiscent of that Italian classic of butter and sage). The sauce just covers the pasta, clinging it to it, so it’s actually good to eat even with fingers!